---
title: 'Senior Recruiter at Handshake'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-recruiter-handshake-san-francisco-0yd3kc8z7818'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-21'
---

# Senior Recruiter at Handshake

- **Company:** [Handshake](https://feeny.ai/companies/handshake)
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Posted:** 2026-10-14
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-21
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/handshake/12b3e6db-c0b8-4466-a580-7f5c7eef9bb5

## Job description

## About Handshake

Handshake was founded on a simple belief that everyone deserves a path to a great career, regardless of where they went to school or who they know. Today, we power 25 million job seekers, 1 million+ employers, and 1,600 educational institutions. In 2025, we started Handshake AI and built the fastest-growing AI data business in history. We work directly with frontier AI lab researchers to create evaluations, publish benchmarks, and push the boundary of data. We've grown from $0 to ~$1B run rate and pay ~$60M to over 30K individuals every month.

Why join Handshake now:

- Shape how every career evolves in the AI economy, at global scale, with impact your friends, family and peers can see and feel
- Partner hand-in-hand with world-class AI labs, Fortune 500 partners, and the world's top educational institutions
- Work alongside engineers, scientists, operators, and leaders from Palantir, Meta, Scale AI, and former YC founders
- Build one of the fastest-growing AI businesses in the world

## About the Role

We're seeking a Senior Business Recruiter to join our Handshake AI team, partnering closely with hiring managers and executive leaders to recruit exceptional talent across the business. This is a high-impact, high-velocity full-cycle recruiting role focused on hiring senior and strategic talent across a variety of business functions, including Operations, Finance, People, Legal, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Strategy, Communications, and other critical teams as our organization continues to scale. Based in our San Francisco office, you'll own recruiting from intake through offer, acting as a trusted advisor to hiring leaders while delivering an exceptional candidate experience in a fast-paced, goal-oriented environment. You’ll also help modernize how we recruit—thoughtfully applying AI and automation to create more efficient, insight-driven, and high-quality hiring processes.

## Your Role

- Own full-cycle recruiting for business roles across multiple functions, partnering closely with hiring managers on role requirements, hiring strategy, and execution
- Lead intake meetings, develop search strategies, source and engage exceptional talent, and manage candidates through the interview and offer process
- Partner with executive stakeholders to calibrate talent, advise on market conditions, and drive efficient, high-quality hiring decisions
- Build and manage strong candidate pipelines through proactive sourcing, referrals, networking, and creative recruiting strategies
- Thoughtfully leverage AI-powered recruiting tools, automation, and data to improve sourcing effectiveness, candidate engagement, pipeline management, and recruiter productivity—while applying strong judgment and maintaining a high-quality candidate experience
- Experiment with and help scale new recruiting workflows, tools, and best practices that make the team faster, more effective, and better informed
- Deliver a best-in-class candidate experience while ensuring hiring teams move quickly and effectively through the interview process
- Provide market insights and strategic guidance, advising on talent availability, competitive landscape, compensation trends, and recruiting effectiveness
- Track recruiting activity and pipeline health, maintaining data integrity in Ashby and leveraging recruiting metrics to improve outcomes

Desired Capabilities Experience: 7+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, with a strong track record hiring senior business talent in high-growth technology or startup environments Business Recruiting Expertise: Proven success recruiting across a range of business functions, including Operations, Finance, People, Legal, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Strategy, Communications, and other corporate teams Executive Partnership: Experience partnering closely with senior leaders and hiring managers, providing thoughtful guidance on hiring strategy, talent assessment, and market dynamics Stakeholder Management: Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders, manage competing priorities, and drive alignment throughout the hiring process AI & Technology Fluency: Demonstrated curiosity and practical experience using AI-enabled recruiting tools, automation, or data workflows to improve recruiting outcomes. You know when to use technology to move faster—and when human judgment, discretion, and relationship-building matter most. Drive & Urgency: You thrive in fast-moving environments with evolving priorities and ambitious hiring goals Communication: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders and build trust with candidates Metrics-Minded: You use recruiting data and pipeline metrics to identify opportunities, improve processes, and consistently deliver results Tools: Proficiency with ATS platforms (Ashby is a plus), LinkedIn Recruiter, and modern recruiting tools, with the ability to quickly learn and thoughtfully adopt new AI-enabled systems

Extra Credit

- Experience recruiting for high-growth AI or technology companies
- Experience helping evaluate, implement, or scale AI-powered recruiting tools or automation
- Experience hiring senior individual contributors and leadership talent
- Prior agency or contract recruiting experience
- Experience supporting organizations through periods of rapid scale
- Comfort with ambiguity and a willingness to help shape recruiting strategy in a fast-moving environment

## We Offer

Handshake delivers benefits that help you feel supported and thrive at work and in life. The below benefits are for full-time US employees. 🎯 Ownership: Equity in a fast-growing company 💰 Financial Wellness: 401(k) match, competitive compensation, financial coaching 🍼 Family Support: Paid parental leave, fertility benefits, parental coaching 💝 Wellbeing: Medical, dental, and vision, mental health support, $500 wellness stipend 📚 Growth: $2,000 learning stipend and ongoing development 💻 Office Experience: Free lunch, gym, commuter benefits, and a collaborative headquarters in San Francisco 🏝 Time Off: Flexible PTO, 15 holidays + 2 flex days 🤝 Connection: Team outings, referral bonuses, and opportunities to help shape one of the fastest-growing AI companies in the world Explore our mission, values, and comprehensive US benefits at [joinhandshake.com/careers](http://joinhandshake.com/careers).

## About Handshake

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Handshake is the career network for the AI economy, connecting job seekers with internships, full-time roles, freelance gigs, and AI training work through a three-sided marketplace.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series F; total funding $434M across 6 rounds)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2014
- **Founders**: Garrett Lord (CEO), Ben Christensen, Scott Ringwelski

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Career platform / Job marketplace / AI workforce infrastructure
- **Target customers**: B2C (job seekers, from students to experienced professionals) and B2B (employers including 100% of Fortune 500 and all foundational AI labs; also educational institutions)
- **Mission**: Expand access and improve outcomes for job seekers, helping the workforce stay ahead in the AI economy.

## Products & Services
- **Handshake Core Platform**: A three-sided marketplace connecting 25 million knowledge workers, 1,600+ schools, and 1 million employers. Features dynamic profiles, intelligent job matching, and interactive skill-building.
- **Handshake AI Enterprise**: AI-powered tools for employers and job seekers, including AI-driven matching, safety features, and pay management.
- **AI Trainer Gigs**: Paid, flexible, remote work for individuals to train and evaluate AI models (e.g., AI Evaluation Specialist, up to $40/hr) – no prior AI experience required.
- **Handshake Network**: Community events, career advice, and networking for students, experts, and professionals in AI and other fields.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding $434M (6 rounds); annual revenue $56.5M (LinkedIn estimate)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Board includes representatives from General Catalyst, Kleiner Perkins, EQT Ventures, True Ventures, and Niantic. Strategic partners include 100% of the Fortune 500 and foundational AI labs.
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount at 5,272 employees (+708.8% YoY per LinkedIn); 1M+ companies on platform; 25M users; expansion into AI trainer gig economy; new roles in HAI (Handshake AI Enterprise) such as Applied AI Engineer, AI Platform Engineer, and Forward Deployed Engineer.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Network effects**: The only three-sided marketplace linking students, employers, and educational institutions at scale.
- **AI-first positioning**: Deep integration of AI into job matching, skill-building, and new freelance training roles – creating a unique ecosystem for the AI economy.
- **Trusted by elite institutions**: 1,600+ partner schools and every Fortune 500 company provides unparalleled reach into early-career talent.

## Strategic Focus
- **AI economy expansion**: Building the “career network for the AI economy” – expanding beyond college students to all knowledge workers, and adding AI training gigs as a new revenue and engagement stream.
- **Product innovation**: Heavy investment in Handshake AI Enterprise (HAI), including AI matching, safety, and pay infrastructure.
- **Global scaling**: Offices in San Francisco, New York, UK, and Bangalore; operating in 32 countries.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Values include “Students first,” “Leave nothing to chance,” “Own the outcome,” “Invent and reinvent,” and “Olympic pace.” Emphasis on ownership, urgency, and constant evolution.
- **Remote/Hybrid policy**: Many roles are based in San Francisco or New York, but some positions (e.g., Trust & Safety Specialist, Support Specialist) are remote in the US. Recent openings show both office and remote options.
- **Benefits**: Health & wellness support, financial support, time off, modern offices with meals, snacks, and social activities. Strong focus on career growth and learning.
- **Career growth**: Rapid headcount growth suggests ample internal mobility; roles range from engineering (ML, AI, data) to customer success, partnerships, and product management.

## Sources
1. [joinhandshake.com/about](https://joinhandshake.com/about/)
2. [joinhandshake.com/careers](https://joinhandshake.com/careers/)
3. [linkedin.com/company/team-handshake](https://www.linkedin.com/company/team-handshake)
4. [joinhandshake.com](https://joinhandshake.com/)

## Other roles at Handshake

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- [Privacy Associate](https://feeny.ai/job/privacy-associate-handshake-san-francisco-2bbwzxymmsxj) — San Francisco, CA
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